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Technology permeates society. This is true not just in the United States but also across the globe. With it comes the opportunity to level the playing field amongst vastly different cultures around the world. But the one thing that remains is the constantly evolving virtual battlefield and its effects on the real world. And if one shows an uncanny ability to navigate this arena, it matters not from where they came. One such individual is Sid Siddharth of NotSoSecure.

Sid’s story is one of success. But it’s not from luck or privilege. Sid’s success comes from the simple concept of hard work. Each step along the way, Sid gave it his all and it was noticed. Even when there was no such thing as a professional ‘ethical’ hacker, Sid continued with his passion and that simple tool in hand… hard work. Because of that, doors opened for him in India, the UK, the US and beyond. Now he has his own company and travels the world as a speaker, instructor and penetration tester. In this interview, Sid shares his thoughts with the EH-Netters around the world looking to follow in his footsteps.

The past few years were a sort of lull for me. While I’ve continued to read and review books, watch and listen to webcasts and podcasts and do my best to stay ‘fresh’ on the pentesting front, I’ve not had a good opportunity to squeeze in any more ‘structured’ training courses. Ever since completing the OSCE course by Offensive Security (OffSec), I’d been feeling good about much of my repertoire but had been itching to get some solid web courses under my belt. I had contemplated OffSec’s OSWE, but as it’s only offered at BlackHat, has no self-study options and because my work and personal life haven’t offered me time to go down that road, I’d been itching for other options. Enter the eLearnSecurity WAPTX online course.

Rewind the clock to a couple of months ago. I’ve long been familiar with eLearnSecurity, having previously reviewed the eCPPT certification training here at The Ethical Hacker Network (EH-Net) and discussing their various offerings with CEO and Founder, Armando Romeo. Each time I’ve looked at their materials in the past, I’ve been pleased with both the materials presented and the overall ‘bang for the buck’ that they’ve provided. Most recently, I’d been looking at the web application courses they offer, specifically Web Application Penetration Testing – WAPT and Web Application Penetration Testing Extreme – WAPTX. On the one hand I knew that eLearnSecurity was soon to be releasing an updated version of the WAPT course. But the subject matter and descriptions of the WAPTX were really intriguing to me, so I decided to go to the extreme (pun intended). Suffice it to say, I have been very happy with that decision. This course has been outstanding, and I’ve learned a TON from the material in these past two months! Let’s take an in-depth look.

Earlier this year, I wrote of my long love affair with Ruby coming to an end and my desire to get back to python in order to build additional skills for the purposes of defense and response. That first step back into python resulted in the article, Book Review: Gray Hat Python by Justin Seitz. That book was one of the more interesting ones that I’ve reviewed, so when I had the opportunity to look at his latest work, Black Hat Python: Python Programming for Hackers and Pentesters, I was really excited.

Python has been the language of choice in the pen testing universe for a while now, and so having a good reference for building attack and analysis tools for use during attack exercises is really important. The back cover of the book ponders the question of how the magic of creating these tools happens and offers that, “…you’ll explore the darker side of Python’s capabilities—writing network sniffers, manipulating packets, infecting virtual machines, creating stealthy trojans, and more.” Sounds perfect. Let’s take a closer look and see if it delivers.

Have you ever seen a speaker at a security conference, an expert being interviewed on television about the latest cyber attack or an instructor at a whiteboard with the breadth of knowledge one should have when putting your career in their hands? Have you ever wondered what it took for those people to get where they are? Now just imagine all of those people wrapped up into a single individual, add into the mix the extra duties of business owner and husband, and you start to get a picture of Dave Chronister of Parameter Security, HackerU and ShowMeCon.

Covering everything from his first programming project as a child and his BBS days through his first ‘real’ IT job and into how he became who he is today, read on for a fascinating interview. Dave also shares his thoughts on helping you get that job in InfoSec, hiring someone for your next security project and some great general advice. In anticipation of ShowMeCon 2015 June 8 – 9, get to know a little more about the man (and woman) behind St. Louis’ ONLY Premier Hacking & Offensive Cyber Security Conference.

As a life-long learner, and someone who is passionate about both bettering myself and helping others to reach higher and achieve their goals, I’m constantly on the lookout for fresh educational materials particularly in the areas of IT Administration and Security. I’m always amazed at the breadth of knowledge that is available, albeit, often at a substantial cost. I’m even more amazed at the amount of free content available but can’t help but be anxious about the quality, validity and dubious characters claiming to be experts just because they have a YouTube Channel. I’ve recently had the opportunity to get an up-close look at Cybrary, a relatively new online training provider with some known instructors. Oh… And before I forget, I should mention – they’re FREE! Could this be the best of both worlds?

Cybrary’s goal is spelled out very clearly when they describe “Our Revolution” throughout their site. They state, “We believe IT and Cyber Security training should be free, for everyone, forever. We believe that everyone, everywhere, deserves the OPPORTUNITY to learn. What they do with the opportunity is up to them, but the opportunity should be available. Join us in demanding liberation, help us in forcing change.” That’s all well and good. But how’s the actual training?

eLearnSecurity has long been a trusted training provider with multiple courses on offer. They recently updated their Penetration Testing – Student (PTS) course. The eLearnSecurity PTSv3 course is tailored for beginners. In addition to a brand new version, they also made available a new pricing structure that includes an Elite Edition, a Standard Edition and a free Bare Bones Edition. The Bare Bones Edition includes lifetime access to the training materials as well as email tech support. For a full rundown of the difference between the editions, click here.

Unfortunately, this is available only to those with an invitation. Luckily, we scored 100 seats in the invite-only free version of the eLearnSecurity PTSv3 Course. And this time there are no gimmicks, no contests, no requirements. It is simply a first come, first served deal for EH-Netters. Read on for the code that gives you access as well as some more details on the new pentesting course. This is for a limited time, so HURRY!!

This highly technical forum showcases eye-opening presentations from world-renown ethical hackers and epic security ninjas which will leave you amazed and frightened at the same time. By giving you access into the mind of a hacker, you will better understand how to protect your networks and critical data. As we always say “In order to beat a hacker, you have to think like one” and “if you don’t understand the enemy, how can you protect against him?” ShowMeCon 2015 pulls back the curtain and exposes how hackers are winning the war on physical and cyber security on June 8 & 9.

Before the con from June 3 – 7 several boot camps will be provided by Hacker University including hands-on hacking, router hacking, network defense, the updated CISSP certification and more. This is where you EH-Netters come in. Participate on EH-Net in our forums and through social media, and you could win one seat in the training course of your choice which also includes a ticket to the con (travel not included). With a value of well over $2200 and a wealth of professional activities, this opportunity should not be missed. We’ll be watching for the entire month of March and decide on a winner in early April. So get out there and support the community, and you could be the next big winner of EH-Net’s Giveaways!! Read on for more details of the courses and the event. Good luck.

“Hacking and Penetration Testing with Low Power Devices” by Philip Polstra is an excellent read. The author bases this book on his experiences in both hardware, software and penetration testing and combines the various disciplines to both educate and enlighten the reader. Ultimately, the subject matter revolves around using the BeagleBone Black and a customized ARM penetration testing Linux distro, which Polstra’s dubbed ‘The Deck,’ to perform various types of hacking activities. It’s described as, “A practical guide to performing penetration tests from a distance with low-cost, battery-powered devices.” Oh yeah… just what the doctor ordered.

Let me open by saying that this book struck my “techie geek” nerve. Years and years ago, not too long after I became a computer guy, but far before becoming a professional penetration tester, I managed a Radio Shack store (sad to see they’re going away). I guess you could say I was a maker before it was called that. This book, while discussing pentesting, code, automation and stealth, offers the reader a great experience as he brings them into a world of hardware manipulation, discussions of power consumption, radio communication, and other really cool topics. It truly embraces the mindset of the hacker in a cross-disciplinary way and acts like a perfect bridge for those currently in the computer hacking arena into the exciting wider world of the maker movement. I’m excited to share this experience with you, so let’s get to it.